In pursuit of bats, Dr. Alvin Novick of
Yale University explores caves and culverts,
belfries and birds' nests-as well as attics.
"I've fallen through ceilings around the
world," says the 47-year-old physiologist, who
studies how bats orient themselves by sound.
The scientist removes a moustache bat from
a mist net (below), strung at the mouth of a
cave in Jamaica where he makes frequent
trips to capture animals for laboratory study.
Inside another Jamaican cave (below right),
he wields a net.
Bats broadcast most of their sonar pulses
at frequencies too high for humans to hear.
"It's a good thing we can't hear them," says
Dr. Novick. "For example, I measured
the pulses of a Malayan naked free-tailed
bat-an animal about as big as a bluejay
- at 145 decibels. That's comparable to
the sound level of some jets at takeoff."